Browsing by Author "Nijhoff, Karijn"
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- Assessing roles and strategies of public sector stakeholders in an evolving (lifestyle) migration industry: the case of the Dutch Emigration ExpoPublication . Eimermann, Marco; Hochedez, Camille; Kordel, Stefan; Morén-Alegret, Ricard; Nijhoff, Karijn; Tomozeiu, Daniel; Torkington, Kate; Weidinger, TobiasThis study focuses on local and regional governments using place-branding strategies to attract intra-EU inward migration for demographic and/or economic purposes. This forms an important aspect of contemporary migration industries, whereby the interlinking of lifestyle, work and economic investment is pivotal. Taking the case of the Emigration Expo event in the Netherlands, it draws on interviews with the organizer and with public sector exhibitors to assess their purposes, roles and strategies when participating in the event. In addition, this paper examines to what extent public sector agents perceive this Expo as a viable physical event, contributing to a lifestyle migration industry. Findings suggest a shift in public sector strategies from attracting residents to recruiting skilled workers or lifestyle entrepreneurs and businesses. Exhibitors that maintain a recurring presence at the Expo over several years can build meaningful relations with each other and with prospective migrant visitors, providing practical information and integrated 'packages' to promote their destination as an attractive place to work and live. This supports the idea that (e)migration expos remain relevant physical sites of an evolving branch of the migration industry, including public-private partnerships involved in place and relocation branding as part of spatial planning strategies beyond growth.
- Clouds in the normally sunny sky? The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Dutch lifestyle entrepreneurs in the AlgarvePublication . Nijhoff, Karijn; Torkington, KateThis article explores the experiences of Dutch B&B and short-term rental property owners in the rural Algarve, Portugal, as a case study on the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for entrepreneurial lifestyle migrants. The empirical data comes from twelve in-depth interviews with Dutch lifestyle migrants who moved to and settled in the more rural areas of the eastern Algarve and started small tourism accommodation businesses. Specifically, we look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting measures and restrictions on the economic situation of the businesses, the health and wellbeing of the business owners and their guests, as well as their accounts of social solidarity and community support. The findings reveal that there were relatively few changes in the lifestyles of the respondents and that their businesses, whilst impacted by the dramatic effects of the pandemic on travel and tourism, remained afloat. The findings confirm both the relative privilege of lifestyle migrant entrepreneurs, and the unequal impacts of the global pandemic. Their resilience to disaster is positively connected to their embeddedness in different networks. Finally, the rural location of the properties was also found to be instrumental in facing the pandemic in several ways.